Britain must "work at" becoming a more integrated society, Ed Miliband said yesterday, as he outlined plans for a "comprehensive strategy" to deal with the pressures of a multi-ethnic society.

The Labour leader admitted his party had failed to control immigration or deal with racial and ethnic segregation in Britain's cities during its last spell in government.

He vowed not to sweep "deep anxieties" about the impact of immigration under the carpet and signalled that he was prepared to "look at" the impact of a Government cap on immigration from outside the EU – a policy he has heavily criticised. But he hailed the London Olympics as a symbol of the successes of the UK as a diverse community and set out measures on language, housing and the workplace to help strengthen it further.

In a speech in Tooting, south London, Mr Miliband received loud applause when he insisted the multi-ethnic Britain shown in this week's census and in the summer's Olympic and Paralympic Games was a cause for celebration.

Drawing on his own parents' experience as Jewish refugees from the Holocaust, Mr Miliband said: "We should celebrate multi-ethnic, diverse Britain.

"We are stronger for it – and I love Britain for it."

Twenty-seven people, including 18 children, have been killed in a shooting at a US school, one of the worst gun massacres in the country's history.

A law enforcement official said the suspect in the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, is a 20-year-old man with links to the school.

Another official said the gunman was killed and apparently had two guns, one of which was a .223-calibre rifle.

Police in New Jersey were last night reported to be searching a location in that state in connection with the shooting.

The White House said President Barack Obama had been notified about the tragedy.

It was the latest of several mass shootings in the US this year, and approached the deadly scope of the Virginia Tech university massacre in 2007 in which 32 people were killed.

In yesterday's attack, most of the victims were children.

Photos from the scene showed pupils – some crying, others looking frightened – being escorted by adults through a car park in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.

The superintendent's office in Newtown, about 60 miles (96km) north-east of New York City, said the district had locked down schools, and schools in neighbouring towns also were locked down as a precaution.

Stephen Delgiadice said his eight-year-old daughter heard two big bangs, and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter escaped unscathed.

''It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America,'' he said.

Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heard the gunshots echo from his home and raced to check on his nine-year-old sister at the school.

He said his sister, who was fine, heard a scream come over the intercom at one point.

He said teachers were shaking and crying as they came out of the building.

''Everyone was just traumatised,'' he said.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said the administration would "do everything we can to support state and local law enforcement"'.

He would not say whether the shooting would make gun control a higher priority on the President's agenda, but he said there would be a day for discussion on that policy issue.

''But I don't think today is that day," he said.

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon will face no further criminal action, the director of public prosecutions has announced.

The decision follows a review of the case after the Government's decision to block his extradition to the United States in October on health grounds.

Mr McKinnon, 46, from Wood Green, north London, would have faced up to 60 years in prison if convicted in the US.

Mr McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, was permitted to stay in the UK after medical reports showed he was very likely to try to kill himself if extradited.

The decision not to extradite "disappointed" US authorities.

Director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer said that between February 1, 2001 and March 19, 2002, Mr McKinnon allegedly gained unauthorised access to 97 US Government computers.

He said: "Following discussions between the US Department of Justice, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service in the autumn of 2002, a decision was taken that the appropriate place for Mr McKinnon to be tried was the United States."

As a result, the US sought Mr McKinnon's extradition for trial in the US. The decision was affirmed in 2009 and a subsequent challenge to this in the High Court, failed, Mr Starmer said.

However, on October 16, Home Secretary Theresa May decided not to extradite Mr McKinnon to the US.

More than 70 villagers in Stoke Golding, near Hinckley, braved the elements to show their MP and local county councillor their feelings over plans for a proposed 16-acre solar panels farm.

Bosworth MP David Tredinnick and Councillor Ivan Ould, who represents Hinckley and Bosworth on Leicestershire County Council, met villagers to hear their objections to the project.

Freecity plc wants permission to place large banks of solar panels across pasture land to the south of the village.

The farm would generate enough energy to power between 500 and 600 homes

Villager Jane White said: "Despite driving rain and icy winds, more than 70 people turned up to explain why there was such an overwhelming objection to this massive development.

"The recreation ground is the only green area in the village where people can safely walk, play, take part in sporting activities and enjoy events.

"The open landscape will be completely ruined if the development goes ahead."

A petition against the development has been signed by more than 200 villagers.

The parish council is not opposing the plan. Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council's planning committee will debate the plans on January 22.

A couple lost precious images of their newborn daughter when their home was burgled.

The footage was stored on a JVC camcorder and a laptop computer which were among a number of items stolen from their home in Loughborough Road, Birstall.

Pc Nathaniel Lockley said: "The parents have been left heartbroken. Images like this cannot be replaced."

The intruders forced their way inside through a patio door between noon and 2.15pm on Monday, December 10.

They also stole jewellery, including a silver Tag Heuer watch with a black face; a silver square-faced Diesel watch with a green face; a platinum ring with diamond shoulders and a central pearl; an engraved gold chain and gold pendant, a fine gold chain set with blue stones; a silver necklace with a small diamond encrusted heart; a pair of oblong earrings with diamonds in the centre and a silver box engraved with flowers.

Also stolen were a black Apple iPad, an Apple TV, a silver Bose radio and a white Xbox.

Anyone with information can call Pc Lockley on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

A 59-year-old man was arrested yesterday in connection with a series of sexual assaults in the early 1980s.

The man, who was detained in the Melton area, was being questioned by detectives last night about four incidents in Syston in 1983 and 1984.

Police said four victims' complaints had been investigated at the time, but had remained unsolved. Those incidents have since been linked to a number of other crimes in the area in the same period.

It is understood the arrest is not linked to Operation Yew Tree, the Metropolitan Police investigation into historical allegations of sexual assault against former BBC personality Jimmy Savile and a number of other men.

A Leicestershire Police spokesman said the arrest followed a review into Syston "cold cases".

The force urged victims who have never reported crimes committed against them to come forward, no matter how much time has passed.

The spokesman said: "We would like to reassure anyone who is a victim of any offence – historically or presently – to come forward at any time and we will promise to handle your investigation professionally and sensitively."

Contact Leicestershire Police on 101.

A gang who stole lead from churches across the East Midlands – including three in Leicestershire – have been jailed.

The thieves left the Church of England with a £1 million repair bill across three counties.

Among the buildings hit in August last year was the St James the Greater church in Little Dalby, near Melton.

Retired vicar Canon Michael Covington called for more co-ordinated action after an estimated £50,000 worth of lead was removed from the grade II-listed church.

Two other village churches in Leicestershire, St James in Ab Kettleby, and All Saints in Asfordby, were also struck, as well as churches in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

Stephen Lowne, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court: "These churches were fairly isolated and some of them did not have houses nearby. In some cases it was some time before the thefts were discovered allowing the ingress of rainwater.

"Extensive infrastructure damage was caused to some of the churches."

The court heard the gang were caught after police stopped a vehicle laden-with stolen lead on the A46 near Lincoln.

An investigation led to the arrests of six of the gang after they were linked to the offences through sales of stolen metal to recycling yards.

Some of the metal had traces of "smart water" which allowed officers to identify where the lead had been stolen.

DNA evidence left behind on a cigarette butt and a beer can at one church and evidence from automatic number plate recognition cameras also led to some of the gang being identified.

The gang netted almost £70,000 from selling the stolen lead during a nine-month period in 2011.

Passing sentence, Judge Michael Heath told the gang: "These thefts caused serious financial consequences. The overall costs to the 20 churches. I am told, is in the region of £1 million.

"It is important and should not be underestimated the distress felt by Christians at the desescration of their scared places of divine worship."

Andrius Cereska (30), of Laceby Street, Lincoln; Audrius Kvedavas (30), of Maple Street, Lincoln, and Tadas Andruska (36), of Roman Pavement, Lincoln, all admitted conspiring to steal lead belonging to the Church of England between January and September 2011, and were each jailed for four years.

Vidas Andruska (34), of Roman Pavement, Lincoln, was found guilty of the same charge after a trial and was jailed for seven years.

Vitalijus Vilkys (27), of Nelson Street, Lincoln, admitted handling stolen lead and was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years and 180 hours community punishment.

Nerijus Razma (23), of Manby Street, Lincoln, pleaded guilty to a single theft charge and was jailed for 22 months.

Sir Peter Soulsby has had discussions with landowners interested in redeveloping an historic fire-damaged factory.

The mayor announced last month that Leicester City Council had bought the 18th century Donisthorpe building, a former textile factory in Bath Lane, following a blaze that wrecked the property in the summer.

Sir Peter said the £550,000 acquisition of the building and surrounding land was made so the council could spark a wider regeneration of the rundown area on the banks of the River Soar.

He has said he thought it would cost about £2 million to restore the property but that he envisaged passing it back into private hands for that work to be done.

"I have had interesting discussions with landowners," he said.

"I do not necessarily intend that the council should retain ownership of the building long-term.

"If necessary, I would want to see the council invest in bringing the building back into use.

"But that is unlikely to be necessary because of the level of interest already generated."

Sir Peter declined to say who he had been in talks with but said there had been "two or three" parties involved.

He said: "We have a range of different potential uses, but I would be surprised if there was not a mixture of residential and employment land in the end.

"Having this building puts us in a position to take the lead with regenerating that part of town."

The Mercury asked Sir Peter if he was prepared to dispose of the site to a developer for less than it was bought for.

He said: "The short-term costs will be outweighed by the long-term benefits of regeneration of the area.

"In other parts of town, we have seen bold initiatives by the council unlock regeneration."

Stuart Bailey, chairman of Leicester Civic Society, said a planning document prepared by the city council about the site before the fire suggested the land around the factory could be used for family housing while the building itself could be converted into apartments.

He said: "That's a good idea, but I can see how the factory could also be used as offices.

"I know of at least one developer very interested in the site which has a good track record of this kind of project.

"I never thought the council would want to hang on to the building for long and I would not be surprised if it was sold quite quickly."

Police have so far caught 35 over-the-limit drivers during an annual Christmas crackdown.

The drivers were tested and arrested in the first 13 days of the campaign, launched at the beginning of the month.

Police are conducting hundreds of checks across the city and county and expect to get busier in the next few days, as Christmas approaches.

Inspector Gill Lewis, head of the force's road policing unit, said: "We should never forget that drinking and driving kills.

"Sadly, the offence is all too often fatal."

The force yesterday gave details of two cases which led to arrests.

On Wednesday, officers received a call from an ambulance attending the scene of a traffic accident in Fosse Road South, in West End, Leicester.

The driver, a 24-year-old man, was injured and smelled of alcohol. He admitted he had been drinking and gave a breath test which showed he was over the legal limit.

On Thursday, police were called to investigate a stationary vehicle on the M69.

They found an "uncooperative" 22-year-old man, slumped over his steering wheel.

Cliff Ward, a paramedic with East Midlands Ambulance Service, helped launch the campaign at the beginning of the month.

He said: "The impact that road incidents involving drink-drivers has on families, friends and sometimes even emergency services staff is huge."

The penalties for drinking and driving are a minimum 12-month disqualification – which rises to three years for a second offence within 10 years – a fine of up to £5,000 and up to six months in prison.

During the four-week crackdown last year, police caught 119 over-the-limit drivers – a slight improvement on the 2010 total of 127 and 2009's 122.

Police advise drivers to take one or more of the following simple steps to avoid the temptation to drink and drive:

Arrange for one of your group to be the nominated driver who doesn't drink any alcohol for the evening.

Find out the bus times, including the last bus home.

Book a taxi in advance.

Spend the evening near home.

A website has been created to spread the safety message.

It features information about drinking and driving, as well as videos in which five characters explain how they committed offences and ended up with criminal records.

www.over-the-limit.co.uk

Leicester Tigers will be trying to put two very unwanted records to bed when they visit the noisy Stadio di Monigo in Treviso today.

The 2006-07 season was the last time that the club won in both third and fourth match-day rounds of the competition when they did the double over French side Bourgoin.

And, with three consecutive losses away from home in the competition, they are also trying to make sure they don't make that four defeats for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign.

If those small facts were not enough to make sure Leicester arrive in the right frame of mind, last Sunday's second half will act as a further spur as Treviso dominated and won the period 18-7.

"Last week was a reality check for us in many ways," said director of rugby Richard Cockerill.

"We won't be going to Treviso to get ambushed now because we are under no illusion of what is coming and how well we will need to play.

"They have a good set-piece and are better with ball in hand.

"If we give them opportunities, they will be dangerous. If you let them get into their rhythm, they will be good.

"We need a good set-piece and must make sure that we play in the right areas of the field.

"We want the bonus point because it could be massive for us in this pool, but how realistic that is, we will have to see on the day.

"If we play to the level that we know we can play at, we will win.

"They made Toulouse work hard at their place and they did not get a bonus point there.

"The forecast is for rain and we have to prepare for that. If there are opportunities, we will try and get the bonus point.

"They have a big, aggressive pack and they have some very good players. Martin Castrogiovanni obviously knows a lot about them and he told us that they sent a mixed team to Leicester because they wanted to put out their best side on their own patch.

"With Toulouse playing the Ospreys on the same day, there are lots of ifs and maybes but if we win our three remaining games, we will go through."

Cockerill confirmed that Anthony Allen features in today's squad after passing the required tests following the high tackle by Matt Banahan that left Allen old cold at Welford Road in the game against Bath a fortnight ago.

"They do what is called a cognitive test on a computer which tests their reactions," said Cockerill.

"It's quite amusing at times because some of the players fail it when they are completely compos mentis, let alone when they have had a bang on the head!

This aerial view shows the huge building project taking place to transform a city college.

Crown Hills Community College is being rebuilt at a cost of £21 million. The aim is to create an eye-catching, futuristic structure with classrooms flooded with natural light.

The fabric of the building, being built on the same site as the current one in Gwendolen Road, Evington, is complete.

Plastering work will begin in the new year, with students and staff set to move in by October.

The new school will provide more than 125,000 sq ft of floor space, compared with the 116,000sq ft of its predecessor.

The transformation of the 16- acre site will also include outdoor areas for eating and learning, a theatre with retractable seating, a fitness suite and dance studio and a sports hall.

Head teacher Bernie Green said: "Progress has been amazing. What we'll get at the end of it is a building that is completely transformational in what it delivers to students.

"It will lift their spirits every time they walk through the door.

"Some pupils have been able to look around the site, including our Btec construction students – which has been helpful for their coursework."

Work started in April as part of Leicester City Council's Building Schools for the Future programme to rebuild or refurbish every city secondary.

The building is designed around a series of indoor plazas with "learning zones" for specific subjects, including a discovery zone for ICT, humanities and languages and an exploration zone for English and arts subjects. The sports hall will have six cricket lanes and courts for tennis, football, netball and volleyball.

Crown Hills school was built in the 1950s and accommodation has become cramped and dilapidated since then.

Business manager Dean Barnett said: "The heating is rundown and inefficient. That won't be a problem in the new school.

"It will have lots of natural light and the corridors are twice the size of what we're used to which means there won't be congestion."

Funding for the most of the council's building work has come from the Government, but Crown Hills and City of Leicester school, where work is also under way, are being financed privately. Crown Hills has also donated about £300,000 of its own funds.

The sports hall has been part funded by the English Cricket Board, which donated £800,000 towards the facilities which will also be for community use.

Mr Barnett said: "We're incredibly excited about what the future holds for us."

Defender Paul Konchesky has hailed Leicester City's team spirit.

City have looked more of a unit this season, with the rumours of rifts and tifts that plagued the morale of the side last year apparently a thing of the past.

Konchesky said he believes that City's last-gasp equaliser against Barnsley last Saturday could be put down to the side's togetherness and desire to play for each other right to the end.

"I think we've stuck together a lot more," said Konchesky. "When we do concede goals or start losing, we always think we've got a chance to get back into the game.

"That was proved against Barnsley. We had a lot of chances but it wasn't going in for us and we went to the 90th minute. If it takes that long to win games, or draw games, then we'll do it. You could see the team spirit we had.

"You can see we all stick together, no matter who is in the side, and we are together as a team and, hopefully, that will get us through."

The former England international said manager Nigel Pearson can take a lot of the credit for instilling such a strong team spirit.

"Obviously it was hard him coming in when he did last season, changing what he wanted to change," said Konchesky. "But he's had all summer and all season to do that and get across what he wants to do and I think the boys have taken to it. I think you can see that on and off the pitch that we're a good unit."

Togetherness is something City will have to draw upon this afternoon when they travel to Millwall to face a side that have lost just once in their last 14 games and are unbeaten in six on their own turf.

"It's going to be very tough," he said. "It's never easy going to Millwall. It's not a nice place to go either.

"We know they're big and strong, they like to play forward quickly and we've got to be able to deal with that and maybe break them up."

Every Christmas for generations, award-winning pie maker Walker and Son has provided hundreds of families with their pork pies for the festive season.

Giant queues would form on Christmas Eve outside the company's shop in Cheapside, Leicester, as last-minute shoppers vied for the freshest pie to see them through Yuletide.

Walker and Son, which began in Leicester in 1824 and also spawned Walkers Crisps, is still baking pies in the city, but its shops, including the Cheapside one, continued under different companies.

In March this year, however, the Cheapside shop closed down after the latest owner, Fife Fine Foods, went bust.

The closure was a blow to pork pie lovers throughout the city.

But now Walker and Son has announced it is staging a high street comeback, just in time for Christmas.

After several decades of concentrating on baking pies for supermarkets, the company has bought back the Cheapside store.

Next week, from December 21, it will open it as a "pop-up" – or temporary – pork pie shop in the premises until it sells out of pies on Christmas Eve.

Then, in the spring, the company will re-open the store permanently.

The pies will all be delivered fresh from the Walker Charnwood Bakery, in Beaumont Leys.

Mark Birch, head of retail shops at Walker and Son, said: "Pork pies are a firm favourite at Christmas and we wanted to make sure that our customers could easily get hold of our pies.

"We came up with the idea of a pop-up shop just in time for Christmas as we know our customers may be wondering where they would get their pork pies from now that Fife's has closed its doors."

Matthew O'Callaghan, chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, welcomed the news.

He said: "Walker and Son have won the British Pie Award twice and they have a master baker who is a great producer of pies.

"I think a pop-up shop would be a brilliant idea and I'm sure all the pork pie shops in Leicestershire are going to be extremely busy this Christmas.

"The tradition of having a pork pie at Christmas is one that is still growing and I think it's spreading to other counties, too.

"Like Leicestershire's Stilton cheese, our pork pies are becoming a popular Christmas treat for thousands of people."

Pork pies are thought to have been a Christmas tradition in Leicestershire for hundreds of years.

It began when local farm labourers ate the pigs they had raised throughout the summer as part of their festive celebrations, while their masters tucked into swan or goose.

In the 18th century, members of the Royal Family on regular fox-hunting trips to Leicestershire got a taste for pork pies and started having them delivered to London.

Every Christmas, the Queen and the Prince of Wales each receive a pork pie from Leicestershire producers.

Former Leicestershire County Council leader David Parsons is in the running along with I'm a Celebrity MP Nadine Dorries for an award neither will be hoping to win.

Both are on the shortlist for the TaxPayers' Alliance Pinhead of the Year 2012 title.

The pressure group is running a public vote to find the politician who they say has been found to show a disregard for tax payers' cash.

Coun Parsons has been nominated because it emerged earlier this year that he could have saved more than £24,000 of public money had he taken the train for more than 200 trips to London rather than County Hall's chauffeur- driven car.

This summer, officers at the county council calculated the figure based on 202 trips he made to the capital by car over a six-year period compared to the equivalent cost of travelling by rail.

Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire Ms Dorries is in line for the title following her highly publicised appearance on the television show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here in Australia when Parliament was sitting.

BBC chairman Lord Patten is also nominated following the £450,000 pay-out to ex director general George Entwhistle as well as Liberal Democrat energy minister Ed Davey for increasing the number of employees in his Westminster department in a time of austerity.

Mr Parsons yesterday told the Mercury he did not want to comment on his nomination.

However, opposition councillors said it provided yet more unwanted publicity for the council.

County Hall Liberal Democrat group leader Simon Galton said: "I'm sure he won't win because the others are far more high profile but the real issue is the attention this gets the county council for all the wrong reasons."

Aside from the controversial use of the council limousine, Coun Parsons was censured by the council's standards panel for not reimbursing the authority promptly with money he claimed for trips to Europe.

He subsequently apologised, stood down as leader and later quit the Tory Group just before colleagues voted to expel him.

Coun Galton said: "Unfortunately, for most of this year David Parsons has been the issue that has dominated both inside the council and in the press.

"This Pinhead thing is distracting from the important issues."

Labour group leader Max Hunt said: "I believe the fact he is being mentioned in the same context as some very controversial politicians says a lot."

However, one senior Tory county councillor dismissed the poll as "silliness".

He said: "Yes, David Parsons has made some mistakes, but he has paid a very high price."

The TaxPayers' Alliance is also running a pin-up of the year contest for those deemed to have saved public money.

Nominees are Windsor council leader David Burbage, Labour MP Stella Creasy, Tory MP Ben Gummer and his colleague Mark Reckless. Votes will be counted until Christmas Eve.

www.taxpayersalliance.com/ pinhead-pinup-year-2012

Five members of a family lived a life of luxury while forcing workers to labour for as little as £5 a day.

William Connors (52), wife Mary (48), their sons John (29) and James (20), and their son-in-law Miles Connors (24), were all convicted of conspiracy to require a person to perform forced or compulsory labour between April 2010 and March 2011.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court found the Connors – whose assets include plots of land at a travellers' site at Kirk Lane in Enderby – guilty following a three-month trial.

During the trial, the court heard the Connors would pick up the men – often homeless drifters or addicts – to work for them as labourers. The victims lived in squalid caravans on traveller sites as they moved around the country working on the Connors' paving and patio businesses.

Some were ordered to perform humiliating tasks, such as emptying the buckets used as toilets.

They were controlled by discipline and violence.

Some of the men had worked for the family for nearly two decades. Many were beaten, punched and kicked by the Connors.

On one occasion, a worker had a hosepipe shoved down his throat, and the men were often made to strip for a "hosing down" with freezing water.

"It was a demonstration of control and dominance of one set, the family, over another," said prosecutor Christopher Quinlan QC.

The court heard the men were paid as little as £5 for a day's hard labour on jobs that would earn the family several thousand pounds.

They were given so little food they resorted to scavenging from dustbins for something to eat.

In contrast, the Connors lived luxurious lifestyles, including driving top of the range cars, owning caravan parks and property.

Mr Quinlan said during the trial: "The men were forced to work and exploited for financial gain and the defendants had a very cheap labour workforce."

The Connors made their money by travelling across the country offering block paving and Tarmacking services.

Also working on the family business was son-in-law Miles Connors, known as Miley, who is married to William and Mary's daughter, Bridget.

Police began investigating the Connors following the discovery of the body of worker Christopher Nicholls, 40.

He had been involved in a road accident in October 2004 outside one of the family's caravan parks, in Gloucestershire, and his decomposed body was discovered in a shed near the site in May 2008.

Then, in 2009, an unnamed worker contacted Gloucestershire Police to say William and Mary Connors had recruited him from the streets of Cheltenham. He told police he was rarely paid and received little food.

The Connors maintained the men were "free agents", and William and Mary suggested they acted as "good Samaritans".

The introduction of the Coroners and Justice Act in April 2010 created offences of conspiracy to hold another person in servitude and conspiracy to require a person to carry out forced or compulsory labour.

The Connors were placed under covert surveillance in August 2010 and police recorded evidence of the men being assaulted.

It came to an end when police raided sites in Enderby, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire in March 2011, rescuing 19 men.

As the guilty verdicts were read out yesterday, family members in the public gallery jumped to their feet and extra security guards had to physically remove them from the court.

As she was found guilty, Mary Connors wept and shouted: "Oh, Daddy, Daddy, why are you doing this to me? I've never done no wrong to anyone in my whole life."

Sentencing will be on Monday.

Anthony Allen returns to the Leicester Tigers line-up for the crucial Heineken Cup match against Treviso in Italy this afternoon.

The centre missed last week's 33-25 win over the Italian side after being stretchered off following a challenge made by Bath's Matt Banahan during the Aviva Premiership 17-12 victory against Bath on December 1.

Allen returns to partner Manu Tuilagi at centre in Treviso, where Tigers need to win to maintain the pressure on pool leaders Toulouse.

Dan Bowden, who started last week's match, is named among Tigers' replacements.

There are further changes in the back-line, with director of rugby Richard Cockerill opting to play both Niall Morris and Adam Thompstone on the wings.

In the pack, England prop Dan Cole gets his first start since returning from the autumn internationals.

Fit-again Louis Deacon returns to the second-row having sat out last week's Welford Road encounter. He features alongside Geoff Parling, who will again captain the side.

Brett Deacon, who has completed his ban following the red card he received against Bath, is recalled to the back-row,

The game kicks off at 2.35pm local time, 1.35pm UK time.

Nothing could have prevented the death of a Red Arrows pilot who crashed after he almost lost consciousness, a coroner ruled.

Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, of Morcott, Rutland, was killed when his Hawk T1 aircraft came down after performing at an air show in Bournemouth last year.

Yesterday, following a two-day inquest in Bournemouth, coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said the likely cause of the crash was Flt Lt Egging suffering "ALOC" – almost loss of consciousness – due to being impaired by a maximum G-force of 6.3.

It is believed the 33-year-old pilot started to regain consciousness in the three seconds before impact – when G-force dropped to about 3.5G – but it was too late for him to react.

Dorset coroner Mr Payne said: "What we have heard was that this was the highest and longest sustained G during that day. He would have pulled 6.3G.

"It comes down to the theory that the cause was G induced-impairment, or ALOC.

"It appeared this was a rapid onset of G."

The coroner said it can be the case that pilots "go through their career and never have any problems like this".

"The other eight pilots completed the same manoeuvre and yet nothing happened to them," he said.

"Nothing could have assisted in preventing what happened.

"All in all, he died as a result of an accident and it is an accidental death that I must record.

"This was a pure matter of fate on this occasion."

As the verdict was read out, Flt Lt Egging's wife, Dr Emma Egging, and his mother, Dawn, wiped away tears.

Speaking after the inquest, Dr Egging said: "Today marks the end of a hard and emotional 16 months for me and Jon's family. Jon's death, due to the effects of G-Force induced impairment, was a tragic accident.

"I am confident a full inquiry has taken place by the RAF and that actions will be taken to help prevent such an accident from happening again."

The inquest heard evidence from Flt Lt Chris Lyndon-Smith, known as Red 2, who was flying just behind Flt Lt Egging – Red 4 – when the accident unfolded on August 20 last year.

Flt Lt Lyndon-Smith said on Thursday during the inquest that all the pilots were supposed to gain height in a peeling off manoeuvre.

"It became apparent to me that 179 [Jon] was going down pretty quickly," he said. "I shouted on the radio 'Four, check height'.

"I then got back on the radio and said the same thing."

He said he did not think he saw any "change or reaction".

"That was the frustrating thing," he said. "I was trying to tell Jon to check his height and I wasn't seeing a response from his aircraft."

Flt Lt Egging died instantly on impact. His injuries were so serious they would have been impossible to survive, the inquest heard.

Also giving evidence on Thursday, Wing Commander Mark Rodden, who led a Military Aviation Authority investigation into the crash, said inadequate awareness of G-force could have led to the accident.

A newsagent has described the moment masked robbers head-butted him, held knives to his stomach and ordered him to open his till.

Two teenagers burst into Smital Kumar's shop brandishing two "very large" knives as he cashed up in the early evening.

Mr Kumar, 36, said yesterday he had been shocked by the age of his attackers and the level of violence they were prepared to use.

"They were so violent and so young, maybe 16 to 18 years old," the married father-of-one said.

"They came in while I was cashing up because I was ready to close for the day.

"I didn't look up at first because I thought it was probably one of my neighbours who always comes in to buy a paper, but it was two young men.

"As soon as I saw them I knew it was bad. They were both wearing black clothing and their faces were covered.

"One of them head-butted me and then they both held their knives, which were very large, against my stomach and told me to open the till.

"They took the money from the till, my mobile phone and some cigarettes.

"It was all over in two minutes, but before they left they pulled a gold chain from around my neck.

"That was a gift from my mother and father and is very important to me.

"I've been in the shop for about a year and nothing like this has happened to me before. It was terrible and very frightening."

The two robbers, who are thought to be 16 to 18, stole cash from the till, cigarettes and Mr Kumar's Samsung Galaxy 2 phone.

The chain they took from him is made of 24-carat gold and had a heart-shaped locket decorated with three diamonds attached to it.

The shop – Saffron Newsagent, in Leicester's Saffron Lane – was targeted at 6pm on Monday.

Detective Constable Jenny Tattersall, who is investigating, said: "This was a frightening incident for the victim, who has been left devastated by the theft of his chain.

"If you witnessed the incident, or you saw two men acting suspiciously, we would urge you to contact the police.

"Any calls received will be treated in confidence."

The men are both white, slim and about 5ft 6in.

One was wearing a black tracksuit, black gloves and a blue bandanna, which was covering his nose and mouth.

The second was wearing a black tracksuit, black gloves and a red bandanna.

Contact Det Con Tattersall on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is free and anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson is under no illusions that today's trip to Millwall will be extremely tough.

City face the intimidating prospect of travelling to the New Den where Kenny Jackett's men are unbeaten in six games.

Their 3-0 defeat to Ipswich last week put to an end a 13-game unbeaten run.

"Millwall have done exceptionally well," said Pearson. "They had a very difficult start to the season but have had an exceptionally good run.

"They always make the most of playing at home as well. They have got this mentality of building up playing at their place as being a tough venue to go to and I think it's something that we need to be aware of.

"I don't think they play outside the rules of the game. What they do is they maximise the factors that they have in their favour and do that very well."

Pearson also paid tribute to his counterpart at the New Den, Jackett, who has just been named as Championship manager of the month for November.

"I think Kenny has to take an awful lot of credit for it," said Pearson. "He has been there for five years now and he's done a really good job.

"Five years in the job in any division in English football now is a long time – he's probably due a gold watch soon."

The New Den has not been a happy hunting ground for City – they have come away empty-handed on their previous two visits there.

"Millwall work hard as a team and make sure they ask a lot of questions of the opposition," added Pearson.

All eyes will be on on-loan Millwall striker Chris Wood, who will start up-front alongside Andy Keogh as Darius Henderson has been ruled out with a hamstring problem.

Wood has scored eight goals this season, while on loan from West Bromwich Albion, leading to reports that Pearson could be eyeing up a swoop for the 21-year-old in January.

City will be without Martyn Waghorn, who is ruled out following an operation on his appendix.

City's academy side made it through to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup following a 3-1 victory away at Blackburn.

Coming from a goal down, strikes from Harry Panayiotou, Jak McCourt and Joe Dodoo saw City into the next round where they will face a home tie with either Peterborough United or Aston Villa.

A man has been charged in connection with a series of sexual offences dating back to the 1980s.
A 59-year-old man from Melton has been charged with one rape, two attempted rapes and three counts of indecent assault. The offences are alleged to have taken place in the Syston area between November 1983 and August 1984.
The man was arrested in the Melton area on Thursday December 13.
He is due to appear before Leicester Magistrates' Court today.